The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-11
TOBACCO AND PASTRY.
How Many Scheol-Boys Are Laying ths
Foundations for Dyspepsia.

How Many Scheol-Boys Are Laying ths
Foundations for Dyxpepsia.
Zone of the chief causes of dyspepsia
in school children is pastry, "said a well
known Brooklyn physician. ''SchOol
children, and more especially boys, are
! in the habit at noon each day of visit
ing bakeshops and there gorging them
selves with the insidious pie, the de-
lusive tart and the destructive cream
cake. BOYS whose ages range from
eight to fifteen seldom have good diges-
tiOns. Their stomachs, and, in fact,
none of their organs, are fully de-
veloped. Taking these things into con-
sideration, does it not stand to reason
that youths stomach would naturally
rebel against such food? The two or
three bakeries in the vicinity of schools
are largely patronized by school child
rem. Pastry to many has the same
effect as cigarette smoking. Indul-
gence in one or both will entail no end
of misery. Have you not seen boys in
the street who were afflicted with a
mild form of ST. Vitus' dance? The
youthful victim of cigarettes shows the
effects of the vice in his face. He is
nervous, his eyes twitch, he jerks his
shoulders and is seldom seen in other
than highly wrought state. If you
wish to see evidences of what / state.
visit the vicinity of Court and Living
ston streets any day at noon."
Acting on the suggestion the reporter
walked through Livingston street from
Clinton to Boerum place. Itwas recre-
alton hour at both the Polytechnic and
Central Grammar School. Streams of
boys emerged from both institutions
and at once made for a ne:ghboring
bakery. There they gorged themselves
with sweetmeats and pastry of every
description. Wien faced little chaps
of twelve and fourteen tackled pies
nearly rs large as their heads, while
their older classmates gave attention to
the festive cranberry tart, the latter
being composed of heavily sweetened
cranberries and partly done dough.
Occasionally one of the more adventur-
Gus boys sneaked out of the bakery and
in some secluded spot lighted cigar
cite which he smoked till the 1890 bell
called him back to school. Pastry, in
sufficiently cooked, and cigarettes make
8 poor combination. Fond mothers
wonder why their boys have no appe-
tite for dinner at night and vainly try
to guess the reason. Did they provide
their sons in the morning with an amply
stocked lunch box containing delicacieS
which would charm the palate of the
urchin, they would find that the latter
would have better appetites for the
evening meal. Instead, however, many
boys are given so much money each
morning to pay their expenses for the
day. This includes the price of luncheon
and car fare. Business men sometimes
become dyspeptics by eating too fast,
but it is unfortunate that youths and
young men just leaving school should
rain their digestionS before entering
commercial life.
This evil, for such it undoubtedly is.
can be remedied by extending the time
of the MONDAY recess. In case the
recess is made sixty minutes instead of
thirty. those boys living in the vicinity
will have time to go home and thus OBJ
tain good, substantial meal. This
practice of eating pastry and smoking
cigarettes is pernicious and can result
in no good. That the Board of Educa-
ton and the residents of the various
school districts throughout the city
should give attention to this matter no
one will deny. Good. wholesome beef
and potatoes are the sustenance that a
growing boy requires, and it should be
the duty of both teacher and parent to
see that he receives these articles of
diet in preference to pie, cake and
similar deleterious food. - Brooklyn
Eagle.